Having spent days of your life creating something unique, it can be very frustrating to have someone take it from you. In the digital era, it’s incredibly easy for people to gain access to the files you’ve created.
Whether it’s images, music, or writing, people can take it when it is online, and this makes it very hard for content producers to keep themselves protected.
To help you with this, this post will be exploring some of the work which can be done to keep your content safe and in the right hands.
Disclaimers
While it won’t act as a barrier, it’s always worth stating your intentions when you share content over the web. If you have a piece of music, for example, and you only want people to be able to listen to it on your site, rather than other people’s, you will need to make this clear in a disclaimer. This is a great way to protect yourself if you ever have to take someone to court over stolen IP.
Watermarks
Watermarks have long been used by content creators to protect their work. Images can have small overlays, text can be made uncopyable, and even music can have additional tracks added to make it impossible for people to steal. This sort of work is best used when you’re selling your content. This will stop people from being able to access it for free, while also making it easier for you to advertise it.
Direct Sales
Speaking of sales, this sort of method is very good when you’re looking to make something out of your content. By selling it to people directly, you will retain full control over it, dictated the rights and licensing which the customer is able to get. Not only will this make you some money, but it will also help to stop people from being able to steal from you.
Platforms
There are loads of websites around the internet which are designed to help content creators. Companies like FilmTrack have been working in this field for a long time, and have a good set of practices in place to help you to manage the royalties you should be getting from your work. You will often lose a little bit of the money you make this way, but this will be worth it to keep your content safe.
Sharing
Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s always worth being careful with who you share your data with. There are people out there who will happily act like a friend until they get something for free, and this can often lead to people having their hard work stolen and sold under someone else’s name.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling confident about your chances of keeping your content under your control as you go into the future. Working in a creative field often means taking small risks, and the chance of having your work taken from you is just one of them.